Major Public Opinion Studies
American National Election Studies (ANES)
URL: http://www.electionstudies.org
Since
1948, the mission of the American National Election Studies has been to
produce high quality data on voting, public opinion, and political
participation that serve the research needs of those interested in the
theoretical and empirical foundations of mass politics in a democratic
society. ANES conducts national surveys of the American electorate in
presidential and midterm election years and carries out research and
development work through pilot studies in odd-numbered years. The main
series of ANES studies encompasses biennial election studies spanning
five decades.
National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES)
URL: http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/ProjectDetails.aspx?myId=1
The
National Annenberg Election Survey examines a wide range of political
attitudes about candidates, issues and the traits Americans want in a
president. It also has a particular emphasis on the effects of media
exposure through campaign commercials and news from radio, television
and newspapers. Additionally, it measures the effects of other kinds of
political communication, from conversations at home and on the job to
various efforts by campaigns to influence potential
voters. You can access the raw data files and documentation here.
General Social Survey
URL: http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-SERIES/00028.xml
Begun
in 1972, the GSS is one of the most frequently analyzed source of
information in the social sciences. The GSS contains a standard core of
demographic and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest.
Harvard Institute of Politics – Kennedy School of Government
URL: http://www.iop.harvard.edu/research_polling.html
Since
2000, the Institute of Politics has conducted polls of American college
students to track their political views and seek to understand what
drives these new voters. This site provides access to summaries of
findings and top line data in PDF.
National Election Day Exit Polls
URL: http://www.ropercenter.cornell.edu/elect_2004/exitpolls.html
Consist
of presidential and/or congressional vote questions in addition to
questions on gubernatorial races, important issues affecting the vote
decision, presidential approval and a number of current national
issues. With the exception of the 1972 CBS News Exit Poll, all include
basic demographic variables such as gender, race, education, income,
and age, among others.
Pew Research Center For The People & The Press
URL: http://people-press.org
The
Pew Research Center is an independent opinion research group that
studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues.
They are best known for regular national surveys that measure public
attentiveness to major news stories, and for their polling that charts
trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes. See
the Data Archive to access the Center's survey data.
Public Agenda Online
URL: http://www.publicagenda.org
Founded
in 1975 by social scientist Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of
State Cyrus Vance, Public Agenda is a nonpartisan research and civic
engagement organization that seeks to help Americans explore and
understand critical public issues, including families and children,
education, crime, the economy, the media, and foreign policy. You can
access their research studies going back into the early 1990s on this
web site. Their issue guides provide convenient synthesis of public
opinion on key public issues. The About Polling section provides many
useful articles about the field of public opinion research, which are a
great way to learn more about opinion polling in general.
State of the First Amendment (1997 - 2005)
URL: http://www.cpanda.org/cpanda/getDDIsummary.xq?studyID=c00014
The
State of the First Amendment survey collects data on Americans'
attitudes towards First Amendment issues, including freedom of
expression and tolerance for art that may be offensive to others.
Access the data via the Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data
Archive (CPANDA).
